Nature Boy

E7 Am Dm E7 Am Dm7
There was a boy, a very strange enchanted boy.
E E7 Am Am+7 Am7 Am6
They say he wandered very far, very far,
Dm7 Am E7
Over land and sea;
Dm7 E7 Bm7-5 Am F Dm7 E7
A little shy and sad of eye, but very wise was he.
Am Dm E7 Am Dm7
And then one day, a magic day he passed my way;
E E7 Am Am+7 Am7 Am6
And while we spoke of many things, fools and kings,
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This he said to me,
Gdim Dm7 Bm7-5 Am Am+7
"The greatest thing you'll ev - er learn
Bm7-5 E7 Bm7-5 E7 E7+5 Am E7
Is just to love and be loved in re - turn."
(Instrumental Interlude - 1st 3 lines of second verse)
Gdim Dm7 Bm7-5 Am Am+7
"The greatest thing you'll ev - er learn
Bm7-5 E7 Bm7-5 E7 E7+5 Am
Is just to love and be loved in re - turn."

The author of this song is one of the more unusual characters in the entire history of popular music -- and the fact that he is seen as a "one-hit wonder" barely scratches the surface of the story.

A recent visitor to the site provided to links to URL's that go into the story in greater detail than I will here, but if you've got a couple of extra minutes, I'd suggest visiting both: http://www.spaceagepop.com/ahbez.htm covers the essence of his story, and http://shadowboxstudio.com/edenahbez.htm provides more information. The latter includes a lyric revision that the author wanted made; at this point, however, the lyric is so deeply ingrained in all of us who remember the song that I don't think there's much likelihood of the author's wishes ever taking hold. Read in any depth, both URL's suggest the author was, to put it kindly, a little on the "strange" side -- yet the song proves beyond debate that greatness can come from even the most unlikely source.

(Thanks to J.M., who declined idenfication here, for the sources of information.)

The lyric and guitar chord transcriptions on this site are the work of The Guitarguy and are intended for private study, research, or educational purposes only. Individual transcriptions are inspired by and and based upon the recorded versions cited, but are not necessarily exact replications of those recorded versions.